Confessions
by pastries and turtlenecks
Summary: Elder Price and Elder Cunningham go out for dinner one night and end up sharing more secrets than they'd planned to.


Kevin Price settled the car neatly into a parking space outside of the Italian restaurant. Judging by the amount of cars, the place was packed, but luckily he had managed to get a reservation earlier that day. Going out had really been a spur-of-the-moment idea; he and his best friend Arnold Cunningham had finally found mutual free time to spend together, just the two of them.

They entered the restaurant and approached the frazzled-looking hostess. She was about to tell them sorry, they were full, and to send them away, but Kevin gently reminded her of his reservations and she smiled. "Ah yes, Mr. Price, right this way." He and Arnold followed her to a table on the far end of the restaurant. She politely told them their server would be right with them, grimaced, and returned to her post.

"This is great!" Arnold said a bit too loudly. He quickly lowered his voice as a few other diners turned to look at him. "I mean, we're both always so busy with school, and you're always –" he paused, and his voice became a bit tense, "always spending time with Naba." Kevin and Nabulungi had been dating since she'd joined them when they left Uganda for the States almost seven months ago.

Kevin smiled enthusiastically. "Yeah, I missed hanging out with you, buddy," he said. Between college, part-time jobs, and Kevin's girlfriend, they barely even had time to talk on the phone anymore.

Arnold was just about to launch into some spiel about the "good old days" in Uganda where they got to spend every day together (whether they wanted to or not), when the waitress approached. She took their drink orders and read off the specials, rehearsed and falsely cheerful. Neither man had been paying much attention, so Kevin said, "Yeah, that last one sounds good, I'll have that," hoping he hadn't ordered something disgusting. Arnold said he's have what Kevin was having, so the waitress collected their menus and headed to the kitchen.

"So what's new in your life, pal?" Kevin asked as soon as the waitress was out of earshot. 'Buddy', 'Pal', Kevin never really got over using pet names for his former companion. At least he'd tamed his superiority complex.

Arnold gave an ear-to-ear grin. "I got a job!" he nearly shouted, and almost immediately blushed sheepishly as a few people looked in his direction again. "I work for this company called 'Life's a Party'. They do little kids' birthday parties and stuff. I get to paint faces and make balloon animals and if I get a promotion, I get to dress up like a clown!" He spoke quickly and got the whole explanation out in one breath.

Kevin smiled and nodded along, though he couldn't help but think that was the kind of job any other person would be embarrassed about. Something one would do when they were desperate for money. Arnold Cunningham, however, was not just any person, and he seemed to genuinely enjoy what he was doing. "That sounds like a lot of fun, I'm sure the kids love you," Kevin said.

"They do," Arnold said with a small smile. "Kids like me a lot more than people my own age like me. They think I'm funny and cool instead of just weird." He smiled fondly at the memory of the last party he worked at, where the birthday girl loved her balloon poodle so much she'd asked Arnold if he'd be her big brother. "I guess I just really like kids, is all."

It made sense, Arnold's inner child came out more often than most adult's, so it was only fitting he got along with children quite well. "Sounds like you'll make a great father some day," Kevin said. Arnold grinned shyly, but his face soon fell. Kevin raised an eyebrow, but didn't press the issue.

"What about you?" Arnold continued, as if nothing had happened. "How's student teaching treating you?" In college for education, Kevin had recently begun his period of student teaching.

Kevin let out an exasperated sigh and ran a hand through his hair. "It's as good as it'll get, I guess," he said, smiling and shaking his head. "I mean, I knew it'd be hard going into it, considering not many high school students really care about English, but some days it's just crazy. But when I see them having in-depth discussions with one another about whatever work they're reading, when everyone's interested and communicating their ideas – that makes it all worth it." After a moment of thought, he added, "I sure could do with less grading to do, though." Both men laughed, and the waitress arrived with their drinks. She apologized for the wait; pointing out how packed the place was, as if they couldn't see for themselves.

"Anyway, I'm really glad we got to do this, because there's something I really need to talk to you about," Kevin began. "I figured, since I trust you more than anyone, I should tell you first."

"I have something to tell you too!" Arnold spat out without thinking. He _did_ have something on his mind, but it wasn't exactly something he'd planned on telling Kevin. But he just felt so nice and loved when his friend said he trusted him so much that he couldn't help himself.

Of course, leave it to Kevin Price to unknowingly make a tense situation even worse. "Oh, you go first, then." Arnold winced, if he was going to say anything at all, he didn't want to say it _first_.

They found themselves in an awkward mess of 'No, you brought it up, you start,'s and 'It's okay, go ahead,'s, like two people walking into each other on the sidewalk, neither one knowing which way to go around the other. They finally both decided to just get it over with and say it, but of course, ended up speaking at the same time:

"I think I'm in love with your girlfriend!"  
>"Arnold, I think I'm gay."<p>

There was a tense moment of silence as they both tried to process what the other had said. Then finally, once again in unison, "Wait, what?"

Rather than allowing for another confusing "who's gonna talk first" battle, Kevin quickly spoke up. "I said, I think I'm gay. As in I'm not interested in women."

"Yeah, I gotcha," Arnold said slowly. "Did you just figure this out, or…?" As far as Arnold could remember, Kevin never gave any hints that he was anything but heterosexual.

Kevin shrugged. "Pretty much, yeah. I mean I've had a feeling for a while but it wasn't until recently that I knew for sure."

"Is there a guy?"

"That's for another time, my friend," Kevin said with a sly smile. "I haven't talked about it with Nabulungi yet, but I'm hoping she'll understand."

Arnold nodded. "I'm sure she will. She's a really understanding person."

"She sure is. Which leads us into…" he said, raising an eyebrow and smirking at Arnold. "What were you saying?"

"Oh, yeah, right," Arnold began, blushing and stuttering. "I've just kind of had a thing for her since we met in Uganda; she was the first person to take me seriously. She was so nice to me even when everyone else thought I was an idiot. I never said anything, because why would an amazing girl like her ever like me? And then you two started dating and I decided it'd be the best for everyone, but I never really got over her…"

Kevin smiled, leaned forward, and put his hand on Arnold's. "Believe me when I say she definitely has a soft spot for you, Arnold. I think you shouldn't give up hope on this one; you two would make a great couple and I know you'd treat her right."

Arnold's eyes lit up. "Really?" he asked softly, his voice sounding much more hopeful than it had before. "Thanks, Kevin. That means a lot to me. You really are my best friend."

Kevin rubbed his thumb over Arnold's hand. "And you're my best friend, Arnold."

The sweet moment was interrupted by the waitress arriving with their food. Again, she apologized for the wait, and set a plate of eggplant parmesan in front of each of the men. She quickly hustled away to deal with other diners.

Barely three bites into their meals, Arnold looked up with a sly look in his eye. "So you sure you're not going to tell me who the guy is?" he asked, smirking at Kevin.

Laughing a bit, Kevin shook his head. "Eventually."

"Do I know him?"

"Yeah, you know him."

"Is he cuuuuute?"

Kevin nearly choked laughing. "I like to think so."

The rest of the meal continued like that, friendly banter littered with laughter. Kevin and Arnold left the restaurant feeling full, satisfied, and closer than they'd ever been before.


End file.
